The Efficacy of Early Start Denver Model Intervention in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Within Japan: A Preliminary Study

Objectives@#Among the many intervention programs for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) is one of the few approaches that has succeeded in demonstrating clinical efficacy in randomized control trials. Here, we investigate the clinical efficacy of ESDM intervention in young children with ASD in a community setting within Japan. @*Methods@#All subjects were children with ASD who received ESDM intervention during the study period. Each ESDM session lasted 75 min and occurred once per week for at least 12 weeks. The outcome measures consisted of the Kyoto Scale of Psychological Development (K-test), Aberrant Behavior Checklist-Japanese version (ABC-J), and the Clinical Global Impression-Severity scale (CGI-S). @*Results@#Twenty-seven subjects (29.4±6.4 months old) received ESDM intervention that lasted for 8.0±2.6 months on average. The score on Language and Social developmental quotient on the K-test increased significantly after the intervention. The total scores on the ABC-J and CGI-S significantly decreased after completion of the ESDM intervention. @*Conclusion@#Our results suggest that ESDM intervention could reduce the severity of distinct clinical features of ASD, such as impairments in social interaction and communication assessed by the K-test, and maladaptive behavior rated by the ABC-J and CGI-S. We believe that the ESDM adapted to each institution might become one of the standard options for children with ASD in Japan.

Smartphone Addiction in Japanese College Students: Usefulness of the Japanese Version of the Smartphone Addiction Scale as a Screening Tool for a New Form of Internet Addiction

OBJECTIVE@#Smartphone use is pervasive among youth in Japan, as with many other countries, and is associated with spending time online and on social media anywhere at any time. This study aimed to test a Japanese version of the Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version (SAS-SV) among Japanese college students.@*METHODS@#The subjects of this study were 602 college students in Japan. The study questionnaire consisted of questions about demographics (age, gender etc.), possession of a smartphone, internet use [length of internet use on weekdays and weekend, favorite social networking service (SNS) etc.], Young’s Internet Addiction Test (IAT), and the Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version (SAS-SV) translated into Japanese.@*RESULTS@#There was a total of 573 respondents (180 male, 393 female) who completed the questionnaire (mean 19.3±1.3 years). LINE was the most popular social media platform (52.0%) followed by Twitter (36.3%). The overall Internet Addiction Test (IAT) score was 45.3±13.2, with 4.5% classified as having severe addiction (IAT ≥70). The mean SAS-SV scores were 24.4±10.0 for males and 26.8±9.9 for females. Based on proposed cutoff scores, 22.8% of males and 28.0% of females screened positive for smartphone addiction. The total scores of the SAS-SV and the IAT was correlated significantly.@*CONCLUSION@#As the number of smartphone users becomes higher, problems related to smartphone use also become more serious. Our results suggest that the Japanese version of SAS-SV may assist in early detection of problematic use of smartphones.

Addressing Residency Work Hours / 医学教育

1)In the aftermath of a well-known case of medical malpractice in the U.S., excessive resident work hours became a major national issue. In order to help reduce resident work hours, the system of night float was developed.<br>2)In the night float system, the resident on duty has no daytime clinical responsibilities and instead works solely on the night shift. Typically, residents have multiple night float rotations, lasting one to two weeks each, over the course of a year.<br>3)In medical centers where night float is utilized, residents who are not on night float are relieved of responsibility for providing overnight clinical coverage of their patients. Resident satisfaction with this system has been high, and the night float has been adopted by residency training programs throughout the U.S.<br>4)The night float system has benefits not only in terms of reducing resident work hours but also potentially improving certain clinical skills, promoting patient safety, and enhancing other areas. However, some studies have shown drawbacks of the system in the areas that other studies have hailed improvements.